Diary (Sunny Day Real Estate album)

Diary is the debut studio album by American rock band Sunny Day Real Estate. The album is considered by many to be a defining emo album of the second wave,[1] otherwise known as Midwest emo. It has also been called the missing link between post-hardcore and the nascent emo genre.[10]

Diary
Studio album by
Sunny Day Real Estate
ReleasedMay 10, 1994
RecordedNovember 1993
StudioIdful Studio, Chicago
Genre
Length52:47
LabelSub Pop
ProducerBrad Wood
Sunny Day Real Estate chronology
Diary
(1994)		 Sunny Day Real Estate
(1995)
Singles from Diary
  1. "Seven"
    Released: 1994
  2. "In Circles"
    Released: 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. ClubA[3]
Drowned in Sound8/10[4]
Pitchfork8.7/10[5]
PopMatters9/10[6]
Q[7]
Record Collector[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

Diary was remastered and reissued in 2009, with bonus tracks "8" and "9" from their 1993 7-inch Thief, Steal Me a Peach and newly written liner notes.[11]

Overview

The songlist started with six tracks written by Thief, Steal Me a Peach, a project started when bassist Nate Mendel went on tour with his other project Christ on a Crutch, and drummer William Goldsmith invited his friend Jeremy Enigk to jam with him and guitarist and then singer Dan Hoerner. The first songs afterwards had titles regarding their order in composing - "Seven", "8" and "9", though only the first appeared on Diary - and then two different numbers, "47" and "48".

The album was released on CD, vinyl and cassette. The vinyl has been released in three limited edition pressings, all of which are out of print. The first was a multi-colored splatter vinyl, released on "Glitterhouse Records" in Germany. The second was a black vinyl pressing on Sub Pop. A repress followed on green vinyl (and possibly a second black pressing), but the label for this second pressing states "Edition II" under the Sub Pop logo. All three vinyl pressings are missing 3 songs that are present on the CD, possibly due to the time constraints of vinyl, as the album clocks in at 53 minutes. The missing songs are "Round", "48" and "Grendel". The 2009 double LP re-issue contains all 11 songs from the original album, and two bonus tracks.

The artwork of the album was almost entirely done by Chris Thompson. However, the "butterfly" drawing on the album's booklet was created by Nate Mendel's father. The album cover features the popular children's toy Little People.

Legacy

The album was different from those released by popular Seattle grunge bands at the time. Its melodic but urgent sound has had a clear mark on future emo groups.[12] Despite being the only album by the band to never chart, it has since become the seventh best selling album released on Sub Pop, having sold more than 231,000 copies.[13] Rolling Stone writes, "Diary captures the vague inner-turmoil of Enigk's lyrics and propels those turbulent emotions to the heavens."[14]

Diary was ranked amongst the best emo albums of all time in the Italian music magazine XL. It has appeared on various best-of emo album lists by Junkee,[15] Kerrang!,[16] LA Weekly,[17] NME,[18] Rolling Stone[19] The album was ranked at number 155 on Spin's "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.[20] Ian Cohen from Pitchfork writes, "it's the terse yet tender delivery of the lyrics from Jeremy Enigk that ultimately drew people in."[5] "In Circles" and "Seven" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[21]

The song "Seven" was featured in the South Park episode "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers", and it was performed by the band on an episode of The Jon Stewart Show. It is also featured in Guitar Hero 5, and it was also released on the Rock Band Network on July 5, 2010.[22] YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge covered "Seven" on his album Awkward & Depressed.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jeremy Enigk and Dan Hoerner.

No.TitleLength
1."Seven"4:45
2."In Circles"4:58
3."Song About an Angel"6:14
4."Round"4:10
5."47"4:34
6."The Blankets Were the Stairs"5:27
7."Pheurton Skeurto"2:33
8."Shadows"4:46
9."48"4:46
10."Grendel"4:53
11."Sometimes"5:43
Total length:52:52
Reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."8"5:15
13."9"6:03
Total length:64:10

Personnel
Sunny Day Real Estate
Additional personnel
  • Brad Wood – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Lynn Hamrick – photography
  • Chris Thompson – artwork

References
  1. Huey, Steve. "Diary – Sunny Day Real Estate". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. Grubbs, Eric (October 2, 2009). "Sunny Day Real Estate Reunites At Just The Right Time". Dallas Observer.
  3. Ryan, Kyle (September 22, 2009). "Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary / LP2". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  4. Metcalfe, Will (October 15, 2009). "Album Review: Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary and LP2 (reissues)". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  5. Cohen, Ian (September 3, 2009). "Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary / LP2". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  6. Jayasuriya, Mehan (September 14, 2009). "In Circles: Sunny Day Real Estate Reconsidered". PopMatters. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. "Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary". Q. No. 99. December 1994. p. 147.
  8. "Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary". Record Collector. 2009. pp. 108–09. [U]nique ... with its bare-boned, visceral raw heart honesty ...
  9. Randall, Mac (2004). "Sunny Day Real Estate". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 793. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. - Monday (2010-05-25). "Sub Pop at 20: life after grunge - The National". Thenational.ae. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  11. "Sub Pop Records : Sunny Day Real Estate : Diary" (2009 ed.). Subpop.com. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  12. Moss, Corey (2006-10-16). "Emo Stars Worship Them, So Should Sunny Day Real Estate Reunite? - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  13. "Sub Pop Turns 20, Sends Zach Braff An FTD Bouquet | Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on". Idolator.com. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  14. Galil L., Bayer J., Burgess A., Spanos B., Exposito S., & Montgomery, J. 40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time. (2016, March 1). Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  15. Davino, Bianca (February 18, 2020). "From 'Three Cheers' To 'Bleed American': The 10 Most Important Emo Albums". Junkee. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  16. Freitas, Ryan de (May 12, 2020). "The 20 Best Pre-2000s Emo Albums". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  17. Whipple, Kelsey (October 10, 2013). "Top 20 Emo Albums in History: Complete List". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  18. "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time". NME. January 14, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  19. Galil, Leor (March 1, 2016). "40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  20. Martins, Chris (May 11, 2015). "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)". Spin. p. 3. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  21. Cohen, Ian; Nelson, Brad (February 13, 2020). "The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  22. "Seven by Sunny Day Real Estate // Songs // Rock Band®". Rockband.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
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